Home
Roscoe carefully turned his key in the lock, pulling back on the door slightly and lifting. One of these days he would take the time to fix the way the lock sat in the frame, but he never seemed to get around to it.
His apartment was dark, and warm, with the curtains drawn over the shuttered windows. He sighed, and lit the oil lamp on the table beside the door with a sulfurous match.
"Hey guys, I'm home!" he called out softly to the empty rooms, as he walked through and brought his lamp from room to room, entry hall and sitting room, kitchen and lab, slowly giving light and life back to the still space. He opened the final door, the door to his study, with some trepidation. Over a month ago, before they'd vanished to the Elemental Chaos, he'd gotten a pair of small plants, a fern and a violet; while he loved Sparky, his puppy didn't actually need anything from him, didn't fill that space in his heart that taking care of his Father had used to occupy. He'd thought some small form of organic life might do the trick, something that could actually flourish and grow under his care.
But then he'd been gone, for an entire month. Surely his poor plants were dead by now.
The door finished opening, and he walked into the study. There, sitting on the sill of the only unshuttered window, were the two clay pots. The fern's leaves stretched towards the glass, lush and green with new growth, and the violet was in riotous bloom. The room had even been swept recently. Roscoe pulled out his desk chair and sat down heavily. There was a note from his landlord, a grandnephew of Ms. Rosamund, on top of a small stack of paper.
Roscoe,
Heard you'd left town, figured I'd pop in and water your plants while you were gone.
~Jenfe
Roscoe carefully folded the note, and placed it back where it had been. Over a month gone, and not even his plants had missed him.
His apartment was dark, and warm, with the curtains drawn over the shuttered windows. He sighed, and lit the oil lamp on the table beside the door with a sulfurous match.
"Hey guys, I'm home!" he called out softly to the empty rooms, as he walked through and brought his lamp from room to room, entry hall and sitting room, kitchen and lab, slowly giving light and life back to the still space. He opened the final door, the door to his study, with some trepidation. Over a month ago, before they'd vanished to the Elemental Chaos, he'd gotten a pair of small plants, a fern and a violet; while he loved Sparky, his puppy didn't actually need anything from him, didn't fill that space in his heart that taking care of his Father had used to occupy. He'd thought some small form of organic life might do the trick, something that could actually flourish and grow under his care.
But then he'd been gone, for an entire month. Surely his poor plants were dead by now.
The door finished opening, and he walked into the study. There, sitting on the sill of the only unshuttered window, were the two clay pots. The fern's leaves stretched towards the glass, lush and green with new growth, and the violet was in riotous bloom. The room had even been swept recently. Roscoe pulled out his desk chair and sat down heavily. There was a note from his landlord, a grandnephew of Ms. Rosamund, on top of a small stack of paper.
Roscoe,
Heard you'd left town, figured I'd pop in and water your plants while you were gone.
~Jenfe
Roscoe carefully folded the note, and placed it back where it had been. Over a month gone, and not even his plants had missed him.
